The ferocious folk sport that forges gods from mortals | Next of Kin: Lelo Burti

Mike McCarthy travels to the depths of Georgia to take part in the ancient contact folk sport known as Lelo Burti. Georgian rugby players have always been known for their unflinching physicality and Lelo Burti might just be the explanation. #LeloBurti #NextOfKin
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[@alistairclifton1286]

The joy of that old blacksmith reliving his score is just pure gold. It's exactly how I feel when I think about my days playing rugby. Rugby and Georgia are a marriage made in heaven.

[@yeahbee8237]

And he scored a touchdown when he was 9yo?

[@patocar1439]

Amazing documentary. Loved how the Georgian countrymen committed to keep this tradition, accepted a foreigner into the game and the way they lived their game. We need more of this kind of shows.

[@TheRedcroatian]

Georgians are one of the most hospitable nations in the world, no wonder they accepted this man, especially because he was interested in the game and their traditions.

[@Dannyvirk]

Heya from New Zealand to the good people of Georgia

[@queenofesc7342]

Greetings from Georgia!

[@giorgiivanidze2352]

Hello brother Hope you are doing well in New Zealand ❤

[@luker5400]

Big respect to Georgians from England. You guys are legends! Always enjoy watching your rugby team.

[@dajay2k]

Liar

[@arbur4746]

god bless you for those nice words, and, not that I'm paying back a compliment, but English and all former British colonies are truly the best in rugby!!!

[@hankgoldenshaft]

That is a cool tradition, we have nothing like that in NZ. Big respect Georgian brothers

[@CohnmanTheBudbarian]

Bro, we used to have scrag, but those were school days.And that was way rougher lol.

[@JaemanEdwards]

​@@CohnmanTheBudbarianIn New Zealand we play the ancient game of bullrush.

[@CohnmanTheBudbarian]

@@JaemanEdwards Scrag bullrush same thing i think, just scrag pretends the ball is the object rather than brute force for no reason hahaha

[@skywillfindyou]

but for what?

[@JaemanEdwards]

@@CohnmanTheBudbarian What is scrag exactly ? Is it a game as well as a tackling technique ? Explain.

[@lekaozinho]

Imagine being part of a 6 hours maul

[@KrimsonGuard]

Props dream right there...

[@hankgoldenshaft]

It’s a South African’s wet dream

[@DickDickerson01]

Sounds like a good time

[@bobibg4ever]

awesome

[@joestanley250]

Absolutely banging documentary deserves more views

[@georgian9469]

გაუტეხელ და მებრძოლ ქართულ სულს გაუმარჯოს ! ✊️🇬🇪

[@user-rb5tn5cw2u]

We must respect and protect and honor these traditions to celebrate our manhood. A brother from the USA.

[@craig5043]

🦬💩

[@Rodreik]

​@@craig5043you again?

[@Adrian-vd6ji]

are you the cop or the indian?

[@deborahchesser7375]

@@Adrian-vd6jiYMCA 😂

[@incomingincoming1133]

Americans DO celebrate their manhood. The do it alone in front of a screen into a cloth. They do it by purchasing products that a man is is told a man is supposed to purchase. They do it by purchasing products as gifts for women.

[@will_274]

This explains why Georgians are good at rugby.

[@sandrokartozia477]

In rugby We dont say we scored a "try", we say we scored a "LeLo"😊

[@mukhoberidze8487]

Thanks mike great video, cant wait to see our boys playing in world cup, rugby is our game too, go lelos go

[@scarybearattacks]

As a former college rugby player, I have one more place to visit and one more game to play for my bucket list. THank you!

[@garethrichmond4388]

Good luck at the WC Georgia I'll be cheering for you boyos every game except wheen you play Wales

[@davidmerabishvili151]

Fair enough, cheers brother 💪🏻

[@XenoFonia]

I'll return the favour!

[@MrDididevi]

Wales forever! Greetings from Georgia!

[@ottavio2dr]

Well, a bit of education now. This game has been played for centuries almost everywhere in Europe, UK inclusive... In France it was known as "la soule". The only difference between various regions was the size and fabric the ball was made. There are historical reports about balls weighting more than 200 kilos and 3 meters diameter. The geographical isolation of the Georgians, but especially their love for their traditions made it last till our days... Exactly like the "calcio fiorentino" in Italy, or the Gaelic football in Ireland, both descendants of "la soule" and forefathers of the rugby game and not the pathetic lie about a game "invented " by a certain Webb Ellis who into a distress situation took the ball in his hands. I'm not sure if he did know the rules of the soccer or just started to play the traditional game he knew from the back home village... Maybe a bit of both!

[@JaemanEdwards]

What was it called in Britain ? The Ba ?

[@BigTimeShowdown]

Thank you.

[@reuterss306]

Wonderful country, wonderful people. Everyone who likes to go on hikes should visit....amazinp landscapes in some parts of Georgia.

[@scottyelder8351]

Beautiful job lads Gods eyes mist with tears of respect and love God bless all the wonderful Georgian people with mercy and peace health and happiness Amen 🙏🏻 💫✝️✨

[@craig5043]

🐕💩

[@Rodreik]

​@@craig5043wtf dude?

[@angryktulhu]

Tf are you talking about, stop crying lol

[@scottyelder8351]

@@angryktulhu It's nice to be nice angry thing .

[@giod6266]

Yeah, there was a time when Lelos were best at scrum in the world of rugby. These days are over, but at least Lelos started playing more modern, beautiful and open game now. All they need is more high level games and as often as posible! But lelo burti game is one of the reasons why Georgians love rugby. Very cool video, thanks!

[@PieEatingNinja1]

In Orkney we have the Ba' at Christmas and New Year which is a very similar event to this. There's the Uppies and the and Doonies who have to get he Ba' to their respective goals. It''s effectively a 100-200man maul that can last for hours on end. Worth a google to see picturrs and vids

[@zne29m37]

Saw it while up on terminal, bunch f**king fairy’s was no maul what a saw talking bollocks, obviously got to talk it tho cos got F all else going on yer shit Islands

[@madhusudan]

Fantastic documentary showing the world an ancient tradition.

[@spiderbugbear3721]

As a Russian I got to say: -"I am not drunk enough for this...yet!". Всем привет!. Гамарджоба!

[@David-dc4xt]

De-occupy abkhazeti and samachablo

[@temukamosulishvili7591]

Mike did a wonderfull job on this video, can't wait for the world cup

[@drmontreal6165]

Great stuff, and I speak as a 71 year old ex highschool rugby player. The massive scrum effect reminded me of giant moon ball--just each mob of a team attempting to push roll, carry this gigantic 9 foot wide ball across the goal line.

[@MB-xq9hu]

Big respect to Georgia and her people. Tough, strong and good people. Greetings from Miami, Syrian Born American bread man here. Love Georgia! Great Video, and great channel!

[@tiaancloete7301]

Fantastic doc and what a great tradition the Georgian ppl have, could be said that this game is the great ancestor of the game we know as rugby today.

[@Villafarrell]

Looks like a standard Warren Gatland training camp

[@MightyMeqi]

Wow ❤👏🙌 great Job great documentary🙌👏 And welvomt 2 my country Georgia🙌🇬🇪

[@joshrivas5173]

Ended too soon. One day I would like to join the Georgians and their beautiful community. They appear to be living life right.

[@thesquire6352]

This was a gem Fingers crossed there's more coming

[@spracketskooch]

This looks like a lot of fun. And not just the actual game, but the whole day itself. We _need_ more of this kind of thing in the west. Keep your traditions alive, boys. Well, as long as they're not destructive and stupid.

[@nicholasdearing6280]

Shrovetide in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, is very very close to this, except it’s the start of Lent. It’s also a two-day ruck, fuelled by gleeful binge drinking

[@jujutrini8412]

👍

[@agustin3479]

beautifull.great people georgians and great rugby traditions

[@richarddavidjohn6803]

There’s about 15 games similar played in the UK. More of a pitch battle than a ball game. Love it

[@jackson24241000]

Such a beautiful country

[@edvardthomson7264]

Most beutiful in Europe. Amazing country

[@paddyotoole2058]

@@edvardthomson7264it’s not in Europe.

[@herb2078]

We have many of these games in England as well. Local councils have tried to kill them off obviously as any freedom of choice and tradition in this country must be stopped, but fortunately there are still a few games being played each year 👍

[@peted2770]

These games play such a vital role in keeping a tight-knit community. Very few places in the US have anything like this.

[@herb2078]

@@peted2770 it’s sad because all these traditions were there originally but generally speaking the local councils and government shut them down and ban them. In England we literally had these games in every single town and over the years it’s been destroyed. Such a shame and always makes you think the reason behind it

[@bobhemphut4011]

Everyone's chasing the devalued currency. I can't speak for England and Ireland, but many American families/communities of European descent aren't that tight knit today. People tend to move away from small towns to burbs/city and never return. I think a lot has to do with divorce rates in the 90s until today and mixing with foreigners or different ethnicities. Great Documentary thanks!

[@pigpuke]

This is by far one of the most wholesome and honorable sports of pure muscle and bone I have ever seen. It didn't have the violence of rugby and didn't have the false bravado and arrogance of American football with all their padding and literally most of the game standing around doing nothing.

[@eugenenechayev6758]

what a great video! it`s like i wrestled there with you... thank you!

[@SpaceMonkeeyy]

Thank you, great coverage.

[@NN-Filex19]

ThaNK YOU ,great video. hope you enjoyed time here.

[@NCFREEMAN]

The Georgian people are very brave and respectful people. Every Country should honor there traditions and there fallen with the same respect.

[@Ausin204]

I really admire you guys

[@johntammes7600]

Amazing, mad respect to you and this whole event. I would join, were I not too old :)

[@maritacherry6871]

There's actually been 2 death in last couple of years of Lelo. The longest maul I've seen was about 5 hours and they were just laying on top of each other, trying to move forward. Georgias main population doesn't really likes Lelo because of it's brutality.

[@georgian9469]

დიდი მადლობა ამ ფილმის ავტორებს !

[@TakeNoPrisoners]

Thank you for this episode

[@Staroy]

Nice to see that Father Grigori is doing well in Georgia nowadays!

[@sandrosamadbegishvili3866]

Thank you to God that I’m Georgian.

[@ashleysoudah]

ref he came in from the side of the maul are words never spoken in leo burti.

[@LadoTsulukidze]

No concussion checks as well :D

[@dajay2k]

Collapsing the scrum not even once

[@dazwall5092]

Great work!

[@6treeman]

We have a similar tradition by me in England. The Atherston ball game.

[@tl2402]

I'm from Atlanta, Georgia, and I didn't know we had this kind of tradition! So cool!

[@giorgiivanidze2352]

Teleport coming soon. Right for you bro ❤😂

[@jasonking6892]

Good video👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@MegasAnatolikos]

Nice vid big man

[@303Lyons303]

Seems like a great time...love it. 🙂

[@R.J._Lewis]

This game looks like such a blast. Absolutely insane, but so much fun.

[@craig5043]

👹🦬💩

[@Rodreik]

​@@craig5043dear lord...

[@zworm2]

Very like Kirkwall Ba played a couple of times a year in parts of Scotland. Between two villages or halves of villages. Interesting if there is any connection? Both are very old sports. Thanks.

[@zworm2]

Looking, even the balls are similar looking.

[@XenoFonia]

I'm Georgian and I am vaguely aware that places like Georgia, Corsica, Sardinia, Basque Country, and Scotland have some of the last surviving pre Indo-European populations (In Scots there is the Celtic, and Germanic element, as well as the native), and there are cultural elements that are either ubiquitous or or partly so; for instance musical traditions like polyphonic singing, which Georgia shares with Corsica and some of the others, and bagpipes which Georgia shares with Scotland and some of the others. And of-course this game. Now this doesn't necessarily mean that there is any common ancestry between Georgians and Scots, but it could be indicative of a large pan-European cultural complex now long lost that perhaps once stretched from the Scottish Highlands to the Caucasus Mountains.

[@zworm2]

@@XenoFonia fantastic reply, thanks! There must be a connection, even the ball looks similar. That cannot be a coincidence. I'm a former rugby player and coach. I was once told by someone who went to Georgia to check their rugby program out that there was a rugby prop on every corner! The Georgia team is Rugby WC bound in a couple of weeks. I wish them luck.

[@XenoFonia]

@@zworm2 We're all very excited, thank you for your wish. I don't know if you are a Scotsman or otherwise, but I wish your country every luck. Rugby is our cultures codified and globalised, and a great and benevolent outlet for a largely defunct warrior spirit.

[@zworm2]

I am a Scot from Glasgow. I live now in America and have worked to develop American Rugby. It is a Unifying sport. Everywhere you look there is similar emphasis on staged battle. The Kushti of Pakistan and India. Sumo and similar events. Humanity has a unifying factor that could be used to unite. Maybe some day...? In the spirit of Gorgodze perhaps? @@XenoFonia

[@faizalsalim1194]

Strength and Honor.

[@gioskamko8330]

Thank you Mike

[@user-vk2tm4yt8t]

what a way to get peoples aggression and to bring people together

[@DidYaServe]

Looks like a cross between Calcio Fiorentino and medieval British faction games.

[@zer00rdie]

Considering Georgian wine is some of the best in the world, that's one awesome ball.

[@Vaterunser904]

Gracias por el video muy interesante

[@nostromo2871]

Atherstone in England is basically the same thing, and was a medieval game. Curious who copied who or if they coincidentally both just happened to make the same sport once a year

[@queenofesc7342]

The ball game "Burtaoba" is mentioned in the 12th century poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin", it is believed that lelo comes from it.

[@TheWelshtart]

Respect. 😎

[@VakhtangLomidze]

Sakartvelo!

[@NASkeywest]

This is the ultimate “Me and the boys” meme

[@ghostmantagshome-er6pb]

glad i missed it

[@Jammil2477]

It’s another version of the Atherstone ball game in Warwickshire. Thats several hundred yrs old. Very similar.

[@ringo688]

Happens in England too.

[@jb9433]

It'' almost exactly the same as Ashbourne Shrovetide Football.

[@tobyway5093]

A less violent version of how football used to be in England

[@normanquednau]

We need something like this in Germany to balance emotions... Great❤

[@cooldinaz7883]

Ouch! He stepped on my foot !

[@centuriontwofivezeroone2794]

Come to Atherstone, North Warwickshire. We have exactly the same going on for centuries here. No one gives a shite about our traditions though.

[@therocketfootkickingacadem741]

Man's having flashbacks of playing against the boks

[@keeperquidditch]

4:26 lel he looks like the radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien

[@joemillar5068]

Very similar to Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide

[@ddaavvee68]

must be a great drink up afterwards

[@radicalcartoons2766]

The Eton Wall Game is yet another variant.

[@kaxakotrikadze3819]

❤❤❤❤

[@bretthardin9239]

looks like the front rows at a pearl jam concert back in the 90's lol

[@Magneticvortex-kk4gb]

Something very similar but much more aggressive here in the UK.

[@craigweisfeld4488]

I feel like every guy in this video has a dream of one day moving to the US and owning a F150 covered in Punisher stickers!

[@jameskirk6095]

Wonderful relationships

[@brodericki4281]

Squidge did a vid on this ages ago

[@keeperquidditch]

How popular is rugby in georgia? Iknow that is big but is the first,second or third more popular sport?

[@XenoFonia]

Second, behind football

[@stewyoung8523]

Shmengees at it again!! Great way to keep the community united. Maybe settle a few scores. Lol

[@80077655]

Is this in the suburbs of Atlanta?

[@MrDididevi]

georgia, caucasus

[@80077655]

I was being facetious. @@MrDididevi

[@ferrarired1422]

Tough for the video ref

[@Desttro73]

So they basically created The Mosh Pit.

[@Luka_WiFi]

რაგბმა რწმენა დაგვიბრუნა

[@CharlCrowie1]

Moshpit + Rugby =

[@robertjan002]

Webb Ellis? Some guy decides to pick the ball up and run? Sorry. Don’t believe it. There were versions of rugby all over. The Italians have an mma version. Gaelic football also springs to mind.

[@LionelBellec-yb7wr]

Slavians are very warm and friendly. Exactly the opposite of what is thought of them is USA/UK.

[@XenoFonia]

Georgians aren't Slavian. Not even a little related. But Slavians are very warm too.

[@PANZERSIM]

Who are Slavians here?

[@andersbjrnsen7203]

looks very similar to shrovetide football.

[@fellspoint9364]

The origin of goof ball , no doubt.

[@gavinhay6627]

This seems very similar to shrovetide football.

[@Vaterunser904]

Diooss la gente puede morir asfixiada

[@galimbertino4939]

savages

[@cathalking5391]

Imagine an Irish Man who represented his country putting on an obnoxious English accent - total opposite of these unwavering Patriots portrayed in this vid.